Temple University
AC-4: Graduate Program

The complexity and pace of economic, environmental, and social change require that students are trained in interdisciplinary and spatially integrative analytical frameworks and specialized skills to apply to real-world conditions. As an integrative graduate program, the curriculum connects these processes, giving students strong analytical foundation that stresses spatial relations, scale transitions, place and context, and nature societal relations. The graduate program in Geography and Urban Studies focuses on the themes of globalization, social justice, and sustainability as lenses through which to examine the development of urban regions. Our emphasis on globalization focuses on capital and labor flows, welfare state restructuring, identity, culture, and concepts of citizenship. In the realm of social justice, interest lies in how globalization exacerbates uneven development and contributes to increasing inequalities both between and within places, including economic inequalities, gender, and race/ethnicity. Our work on sustainability encompasses comparative dimensions of environmental sustainability on the national and global scales, environmental justice, land use/land cover analysis, sprawled development patterns, and urban ecology. As an integrative graduate program, the curriculum connects these processes, giving students a strong analytical foundation that stresses nature and societal relations, place and context, scale transitions, and spatial relations.

The core courses in the graduate certificate in Sustainable Community Planning program introduce students to the broad range of issues and topics relevant to planning for sustainable development of our cities and regions. Elective courses provide the opportunity to deepen knowledge and training in specific areas of sustainability and environmental planning. Students in the graduate certificate in Sustainable Community Planning will: 1) gain knowledge of the historical evolution of the concept of sustainable development and its multiple definitions; 2) understand the discourse of theory and practice of sustainable development at the local, regional and global level; 3) be able to develop indicators to monitor and evaluate the sustainability of site, community and regional actions, plans and designs; 4) recognize models of sustainability and know how to use such models to inform their professional practice; 5) understand how to incorporate sustainability principles into planning practice to address the interrelationships between social, economic and environmental factors; and 6) have improved research, writing, and communication skills.

Link to sustainability related degree programs: http://sustainability.temple.edu/academics-and-research/degree-offerings